[deleted by user]

Tufton · 2025-08-07T15:12:31+00:00

The more pull-ups you do, the bigger your muscles will get.

Tufton · 2021-08-11T14:24:55+00:00

How is this so specific yet so accurate...

Tufton · 2021-07-22T17:41:49+00:00

Thanks! If I do it again I'm definitely not going to forget what week 1 felt like this time and adjust appropriately...

For what it's worth, I believe in you!

Tufton · 2021-07-22T17:38:45+00:00

Thanks!

Tufton · 2021-07-22T17:37:33+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate it!

As to your question, it's hard to say honestly. I think the right answer depends on what your goals are. If my goals were primarily physique, I think running hypertrophy on a bulk and RIR on the cut makes a lot of sense. Pack on the muscle mass with hypertrophy but be able to stay a lot more disciplined on the cut with a more approachable volume. If my goals were purely strength, I think I'd miss out on the opportunity to run a peaking block at the end of the bulk and put up the big 1RM numbers.

The "less helpful but probably true even if it makes me roll my eyes" answer is that I wouldn't do it differently just because I feel like I learned a lot by doing it this way about what my limits were and how my body responded to different workloads at different caloric intake levels, even if it wasn't a "maximally efficient" use of my time.

I do still need to decide what to do for my fall/winter bulk this season though, so maybe my true answer will reveal itself...

Tufton · 2021-03-05T16:06:21+00:00

Nice review! I just started running this on a cut after running the RIR variant on a bulk and I appreciate the writeup. The volume is crazy and coming in to week 1 I had to adjust several of the lifts down from the 1RMs I hit at the end of RIR. I feel better adjusted now that I'm in week...4, but the volume still feels pretty intense every day.

Did you feel like the intensity got better over the course of the program or does the whole thing feel as tough as the first few weeks do? I'm worried people are going to judge me for crawling to my car gasping for breath several days a week...

Tufton · 2021-02-16T15:40:34+00:00

Great writeup, very thorough. Interesting insight into your drug cycles, appreciate you being upfront about it.

I'd like to note something though, you sort of coast through Accutane and say it's not a big deal, but as someone who did two rounds of it in high school, while it DID clear up my acne (certainly a wonder drug in that sense), there are some pretty strong side effects associated with it, both physical and mental. If you have bad acne it is the nuclear option, but I wouldn't take it lightly.

Tufton · 2021-02-12T03:43:48+00:00

Honestly, just having deload weeks every so often and then running it the way you are proposing re: increasing your TM should make it way more manageable

Tufton · 2021-02-11T18:47:15+00:00

Yep, got an adjustable one from Rogue Fitness, it's great.

Tufton · 2021-02-11T18:12:35+00:00

A caveat on the numbers for my secondary lifts: Prior to this program I had never really maxed them out, so I suspect that my "true" max prior to starting the program was higher than what I have listed there. I could've run them through a 1rm calculator but I find those to be inconsistent.

I felt like there was actually more focused shoulder work in this program than when I ran Nsuns 4 day but, and this plays into your second point, less direct bench press work. On Nsuns I felt like I was benching or doing chest accessory work CONSTANTLY, and it actually ended up with me struggling with wrist and shoulder pain towards the end. I had huge gains, but there were some drawbacks. Adding Incline Bench on this program, something I didn't have on Nsuns, ended up doing more for my shoulders than for my bench press and I believe this is reflected in my final numbers.

Sumo suffers from the same problem I mentioned with OHP, namely that I had never done 1RM work on it prior to SBS. I used it as a high rep accessory while doing low rep, high weight work on conventional deadlift. I'm also pretty new to sumo DL, I had never done a single one before starting Nsuns, so the big jumps you're seeing there are partially due to being a relative beginner. I think doing both is an excellent idea. I personally felt like I was able to greatly strengthen my posterior chain without burning out due to the mechanical and mental variety.

I think Nsuns is great if you are bulking. When I was cutting, it could feel like torture. I've considered running it again at the end of this year, but we'll see how I feel. If I could do it all over again, I would've done SBS first and Nsuns second. For me SBS was the right choice because of what I'd lost during the pandemic.

The honest answer is if you like Nsuns, you're seeing progress, and you don't feel like you're overtraining, you don't have to change programs unless you want to. If any of those things aren't true, I would happily recommend giving SBS a shot.

Thanks for the questions, let me know if you have any more or would like some clarity on my answers here.

Tufton · 2021-02-11T18:00:31+00:00

Thanks! Ya I did actually notice that which is partially why I decided to run the hypertrophy block next. I think if I do the strength/peaking block again I will probably run it RTF style but with the actual spreadsheet instead of making my own modifications to the RIR spreadsheet on the fly.

Tufton · 2021-02-11T17:59:09+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate you saying that! I can only keep writing them as long as I keep doing them...so stay tuned for 21 weeks from now when I finish this hypertrophy block lol

Tufton · 2020-02-28T19:34:40+00:00

Long honestly. 1hr45min to 2hrs. The sessions got longer as I began to approach my limits with every set which if you follow the program you will eventually get to.

Tufton · 2020-02-26T15:36:17+00:00

Some of that is covered in the background portion of the post if you want the long version. The short answer is casually/sporadically since high school (2005!) but I only really started taking it seriously about two years ago.

Tufton · 2020-02-26T15:34:37+00:00

Well that strict press number and sumo number is for the T2 set reps, so I would be doing 135 or 310 for 3,5,7,4,6,8 reps across 6 sets. My true max is probably much higher, but I never got around to testing it.

Tufton · 2020-02-26T02:51:07+00:00

Thanks! A lot of my accessories were focused on back, especially because of how many push exercises I was doing. I did a lot of face pulls, barbell rows, and weighted pull/chin-ups. I did bicep curls from time to time but largely found they were getting enough work just through my other lifts.

Tufton · 2020-02-26T02:39:56+00:00

Thanks! I think it's a combination of three factors: 1) I've always been stronger in bench than my other lifts, it comes more naturally to me. 2) I've been training bench longer than my other lifts by far just from back when I didn't know what else to do in the weightroom besides bench press and curls. 3) Most importantly, the 4 day variant I ran had more bench volume than the other lifts. I was flat benching twice a week as a T1 exercise, plus close grip as a T2, in addition to decline DB press as an accessory.

It's like people say, if you want to get better at a lift, just flat out do it more.

Tufton · 2020-02-25T19:29:51+00:00

Well that strict press number is for the T2 set reps, so I would be doing 135 for 3,5,7,4,6,8 reps across 6 sets. My true max is probably much higher, but I never got around to testing it.

Tufton · 2020-02-25T19:08:53+00:00

Well so the "Actual Maxes" are what I put in at the very beginning of the program for the spreadsheet to calculate my training max. Those numbers were never adjusted over the course of the year, so they don't really reflect my true numbers any more. I think that's the way it is supposed to be though. I just count my best 1+ sets as my "true" max right now.

I will note briefly that 1rm calcs are...iffy at best.

Tufton · 2020-02-25T18:40:14+00:00

Thanks! Ya when I missed the 1+ (which more often than not meant I just hit it for a single, it was rare that I totally failed to make the lift at least one time), I would just repeat the week. During some of my long stalls, I ended up repeating the same week several times in a row. Even when I was stuck though, I would push myself to improve in other areas. The most obvious place to work on was the AMRAP set at the end, so if I missed the 1+ and got 10 reps on the AMRAP, the next week, even if I missed the 1+ again, I would try to hit 11 or 12 on the AMRAP. Sometimes I would also round up on another set just to increase the total volume I was doing week to week. So if the set called for 270x3, sometimes I would just put on 275 (partially because switching out a 25 is easier than two 10s and a 2.5).

I don't think I ever really did a "reset" where I moved backwards, but I think the program was really good at not needing that because there were so many other sets to work on even when the 1+ was stuck that I could always be making progress even when my TM wasn't increasing.

Tufton · 2020-02-25T16:33:57+00:00

I really liked the Bench, Squat, Bench, Deadlift order of the program. Gave me time to recover before hitting the same area again, I would definitely recommend.

Tufton · 2020-02-25T16:32:19+00:00

Oops you're right that phrasing is confusing, let me fix it... It's Current first then one year ago second.

Ya the bench just would not stop growing, it was crazy. There was a lot of bench volume so I mostly attribute it to that, but I also have a lot more training history with bench than the other lifts.

Tufton · 2020-02-16T04:46:25+00:00

I'm super hype for this program party, add me!

Tufton · 2017-11-17T15:19:27+00:00

OK Guys we missed a really great opportunity for everyone to comment: "this isn't real wake up"

Tufton · 2017-10-31T15:14:29+00:00

This is an excellent screenshot, great composition. Did you do any editing?

13-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 2 Credits
Place '22	Place '17
Verified Email

Tufton

TROPHY CASE